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Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I had always hoped these books would come to the big screen, but didn’t think the moviemakers would have the neither tools, nor the talent to fully illustrate the wondrous works of this author.

I am very happy to see I was mistaken. I have read these books many times since I was a kid and have to say aside from one very irritating choice in character juggling, the movie follows in perfect step with the classic story.

The graphics and CGIs are fantastic and represent an image of Middle Earth and its inhabitants very well.

The first of three books, The Fellowship of the Ring, tells the tale of a Hobbit named Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and his perilous adventure to rid Middle Earth of the ring of doom left to him by his Uncle Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm). Unbeknownst to the two, the ring is the ancient ring of doom created by the Dark Lord Sauron to rule Middle Earth. On the advice of the wise and powerful wizard Gandalf (played by a stern yet whimsical Ian McKellen), Frodo begins a perilous journey to the land of the Elves, where a council of the races will decide the powerful talisman's destiny.

To save his land and people from disaster, Frodo flees his peaceful home in an effort to save it from the dark forces of Sauron who search for the ring. Accompanying him on his journey is the faithful friend and servant Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) and two Cousins Pip and Merry (Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan).

On their journey to the elves, the party meets up with Strider, a ranger played by Viggo Mortensen, who accompanies them and protects them against the evils that hunt them. A council of all the races of Middle Earth assembles in the land of the elves, and the decision is made to destroy the ring by casting back into the fires of Mount Doom, where it was given life.

The group accompanying Frodo grows to nine with the addition of the Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the Dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the human Boromir (played very well by Sean Bean). The nine make their way towards the black land of Mordor in the hopes of destroying the ring and thus saving Middle Earth from Sauron.

I have to say the movie far exceeded anything I had hoped, but the travels through the under mountain Dwarven kingdom of Moria was the highlight of the film. The special effects used in this portion of the film were, to say the least, fantastic.

Also, the acting is beyond the expectation of a fantasy-action movie. At the risk of sounding like a Tolkien nerd, a title that would not bother me one bit, I would like to point out the only problem I had with the film. The character Arwen (played by Liv Tyler, daughter of Steven Tyler of Aerosmith) falls into the story in the place of another character by the name of Glorfindel, who meets up with Frodo and his small Hobbit party early in the movie. The choice to swap characters is to create a stronger element of romance between two main characters. The switch does little to harm the story line, yet it is enough to make this movie viewer wonder about how influences in Hollywood might work.

All in all, I would recommend this movie to anyone who loves adventure and a great story. The endless parade of Orcs, Goblins, Evil wizards and action is enough to satisfy both young and old, and you don’t have to be a Tolkien fanatic to follow the film's plot line.

Grab some snacks, kick back, and enjoy!

Written by: Michael Burks

Reviewers Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 9.40
Reader's Votes: 35

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